Overlord!

Shortly after Cao Cao was punished by Ming Zhengdian, Sun Ce also received an envoy from the old marquis, Liu Zhang's envoy Zhang Su, in the Zhaoming Palace.

Zhang Su is Zhang Song's elder brother. Thanks to "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Zhang Song's reputation and image in later generations are quite outstanding, unlike his brother Zhang Su who is invisible to everyone.

Zhang Song is famous for hating Cao Cao and being friendly to Liu Bei.

In fact, the reason why Zhang Song disliked Cao Cao was very simple. Cao Cao didn't pay much attention to Zhang Song.

Of course it's not because Zhang Song is ugly and short.

The most important reason why Zhang Song felt despised was that when his brother Zhang Su went on a mission to Cao Cao on behalf of Liu Zhang, he sent 300 Shu soldiers and a large amount of Shu brocade and imperial miscellaneous items. Cao Cao then named Zhang Su the governor of Guanghan.

When it was Zhang Song's turn to send an envoy, Cao Cao had already pacified Jingzhou, surrendered Liu Cong, the governor, and expelled Liu Bei. He was unwilling to treat Zhang Song courteously, so he only allowed him to serve as the magistrate of Sushi County.

The gap between a prefect and a county magistrate made Zhang Song resentful. When he returned to Shu, he persuaded Liu Zhang to cut off contact with Cao Cao.

The Zhang family was from a wealthy family in Chengdu, Shu County, and had great influence on Liu Zhang.

When Zhang Su came to Jiankang this time, he even presented more than 3,000 pieces of Shu brocade and more than 500 kilograms of gold, in order to preserve peace in Shu and continue his family's status in Shu.

But even so, Sun Ce did not treat Zhang Su politely, because it was completely unnecessary at this time.

Zhang Su, on the other hand, was completely panicked and spent a lot of money to bribe the officials in Jiankang, just to see Sun Ce.

He even found Sun Ce's mother through some connections, and it was Zhu Zhi's friendship.

After all, when Sun Ce's army entered Qu'a, Sun Ce's mother, wife, etc. were all under Liu Yao's rule. In order to prevent Liu Yao's persecution, Zhu Zhi took Sun Ce's mother and others under his rule first, and then decisively raised troops. As the captain of Wu Commandery, Zhu Zhi Defeated Xu Gong, the governor of Wu County, entered the county government, performed the duties of the governor, and then raised Wu County to surrender to Sun Ce.

This was an important senior minister who was benevolent to Sun Ce. Even Sun Ce did not force him to transfer to the Song Dynasty as a minister. He still maintained his identity as a Han minister.

But no one in Jiankang City dared to look down upon him.

When Sun Ce changed the Yuan Dynasty and ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, Zhu Zhi was at least a 5,000-household prince. Only weaker than Zhou Yu, Lu Meng, Zhuge Liang and other generals with great military achievements.

Sun Ce had to give Zhu Zhi face, not only for the sake of kindness, but also because he needed to lead the Han Dynasty ministers to support the abdication.

After receiving the Sixth Seal of the Emperor, Sun Ce conferred the title of Guangluxun on Zhu Zhi.

The positions of the three princes were vacant, except for Sun Ce, who was the Grand Sima, and Sikong and Taiwei.

Sikong is in charge of civil construction, water conservancy construction, etc. across the country. Today, the Song Dynasty's treasury is empty and all infrastructure construction has stopped, so Sikong has no meaning in serving.

The Taiwei is in charge of the national army, not to mention that Sun Ce is reorganizing the surrendered troops everywhere. Even the troops of Han Dynasty City Gate Colonel and Guang Luxun are under Sun Ce's control. There is no single soldier in the world who belongs to the emperor.

In this case, there is no need to appoint a Taiwei.

Just looking at the changes and transfers of official positions, you can know how busy Jiankang is now.

When Sun Ce wanted to see Zhang Su, he took some time off from his busy schedule and found some free time.

The Chui Gong Hall has now been renovated once again. The gate of the hall is majestic, and the vermilion doorposts are carved with exquisite cloud patterns and auspicious animal patterns. The palace displays bronzes, ceramics, and precious calligraphy and painting works for ritual music.

Candles as thick as a baby illuminate the palace very brightly, and even in places where sunlight does not shine, there is no dark feeling in the palace.

The maids had lit sandalwood around the palace, and ambergris from overseas lingered in the palace, making the entire hall peaceful and full of nobility.

Zhang Su was brought into the Chui Gong Hall by the Xiuyi Guards and saw a young and energetic young man sitting behind the desk.

Even though he had already heard that Song Gong was a young talent, seeing all this with his own eyes was still shocking!

Such a young monarch, with his hair full of green hair, plump and handsome, looks like he is in his prime.

Thirty years old, even in later generations, is already showing signs of decline, unlike young people with plump skin and high spirits.

In this era when you can call yourself an old man at the age of thirty, you may even have some gray hair.

But now Duke Song is simply full of energy and angry.

Even just looking at his age, Zhang Su felt deeply intimidated, and Yizhou had no room for bargaining in front of him.

Therefore, he changed his previous words and bowed respectfully when he saw him. He knelt down and said, "I am a humble man on the border. Please stay away from Yizhou. Zhang Su pays homage to Song Gong."

Sun Ce handed the book in his hand to the female official at the side and said, "Give him this book and let him take a look."

Zhang Su didn't know why, so he quickly took it with both hands respectfully. He only glanced at it, and his eyes widened instantly. He didn't know whether what it said was true or false, but he knew the implication of Song Gong's words very clearly.

So he hurriedly said: "The high-ranking cadres seized Heshuo and controlled the soldiers, but they did not understand the destiny and raised their own troops. Eventually they were defeated and fled, and they were destroyed. The followers of his subordinates were rarely defeated. It can be seen that this is destiny. Return, no one can hope for it!"

Destiny has its destiny, and naturally it is Song Gongfu’s destiny!

The achievements recorded in the book were enough to explain everything, and Zhang Su was shocked.

Not long after Cao's army was defeated, the generals of the Song army recovered the counties north and south of the Yellow River, and then sent troops out of Jizhou and invaded Bingzhou.

Wei Gu and Fan Xian from Hedong, and Zhang Yan from Hongnong, who had previously responded to the high-ranking cadres' revolt, were all swept away by the war and executed on the banks of the Yellow River.

Zhang Su was shocked beyond belief when he saw the good news in the booklet.

Hedong is a large county. There are tens of thousands of rebels in the territory, and there are even counties across the state. How could it be wiped out in one battle?

In fact, the reason is very simple. These people are just a mob. They were manipulated by a few heroes. Then the heroes killed them and brought the county under the rule of the Song Dynasty.

Sun Ce's surrender to Hedong was just a simple sentence, but the process of surrender was also full of swords and intrigues. If it were just a biography of one person, it would be very exciting.

In Hedong, it was not that the local princes raised their counties to submit to Sun Ce, but that the local officials first killed those who supported the troops and respected themselves, and then led the entire county's soldiers and civilians to submit. The nominal governor of Hedong County is Du Ji, but in fact the real power there is controlled by the local wealthy people Wei Gu and Fan Xian.

In the name of surrender, these two people are actually colluding with senior officials and entrenched in the local area.

Hedong County Governor Wei Gu was an old friend of Du Ji. They had known each other for a long time and had a certain affection for each other. But Fan Xian, the general of the lieutenant general, had no friendship with Du Ji and once wanted to kill Du Ji.

Wei Gu was hesitant. In order to warn and threaten Du Ji, Fan Xian successively killed more than 30 subordinate officials including the princess secretary. But Du Ji pretended to be submissive and submissive at this time. He did not have any special angry reaction and acted calmly. He also handed over all the troops to Commander Fan Xian, so Fan Xian decided to let him go.

As the two major local powerful men, now that they have mastered the actual power in Hedong, for their own future security and to make a difference in troubled times, they expanded their armies aggressively.

Du Ji not only did not object, but also made suggestions for the two of them. He said to Wei Gu and Fan Xian: "If you want to do big things, you must win the hearts and minds of the people and let the people support you. Now that the recruitment is open, the people must think that a war is about to happen, and in their hearts Afraid. Before the soldiers were recruited, the people fled first. It is better to use money and quietly recruit soldiers one after another. Whoever wants money from the people will come to serve as soldiers. This is the Han, Song and Zhao clans All methods are used.”

The Wei and Fan families were both wealthy families in Hedong and had considerable assets. Wei Gu, in particular, was convinced of what Du Ji said, so he agreed to mobilize his capital. However, when recruiting troops, the generals were greedy to apply for more troops and send fewer troops. Therefore, in order to get more free money, generals and colleges everywhere committed fraud, signing up more troops and recruiting fewer troops. The chaos lasted for dozens of days before it stopped. Wei Gu and Fan Xian spent a lot of money, but in fact they did not recruit many soldiers.

Then, Du Ji persuaded Wei Gu and said, "Everyone cares about their family the most. Our generals and school officials often complain when they can't go home. Why don't we give them a holiday and call them back when something happens?" Difficult. This is a way to unite people."

Wei Gu agreed again in order to win people's hearts.

As a result, Du Ji successfully dismissed all the closest minions of Wei Gu and Fan Xian.

As for Du Ji himself, he secretly formed alliances with heroes in the county and lobbied village elders and prominent families to secretly gather a group of volunteers.

When the high-ranking cadres were in chaos, Wei Gu and others prepared to raise troops to respond, but the generals had dispersed and it was difficult to gather in a hurry.

The prefect Du Ji knew that all the counties would support him, so he led dozens of his trusted cavalry to escape from the county town and found a strong county town to refuse to defend. Officials and people from all counties in the county gathered with Du Ji to unite and respond. Within a few dozen days, Du Ji had gathered more than 4,000 troops, with strong strength. Wei Gu and Fan Xian led their own troops, together with Gao Gan and Zhang Sheng's troops, to attack Du Ji, but could not win. They also went to various counties to plunder, but also gained nothing.

Soon, Cao Cao was defeated and the Song army's heavenly soldiers arrived. Gao Gan and Zhang Sheng were defeated in a battle, and Wei Gu and Fan Xian were killed.

Du Ji then raised the county to surrender. He encouraged the people to be diligent in farming and weaving, and taught animal husbandry, hoping to make the people prosperous. He also built schools, recommended filial and brotherly people, repaired the army, taught military preparations, and made peace in Hedong.

When this document was sent to Jiankang, Hedong, an important northern town with mountains and rivers inside and outside, had settled down and all wars and wars had subsided.

The once-prominent high-ranking cadres were defeated and fled. They lost their way in advance and retreat. They wanted to lead a few cavalry to the west to join the generals in Guanzhong. However, they were hunted down by the captains Wang Yan and Yan Qian on the way. When they were desperate, their generals were greedy. He was greedy for his gold and silver goods and sought reward, so he stabbed a high official under his horse, beheaded him and then surrendered.

After pacifying Bingzhou, Sun Ce, in order to win over Du Ji and reward Du Ji for his achievements, did not take away his post as governor. He still made him governor of Hedong and named him Marquis of Fengleting.

The Song army defeated tens of thousands of Bingzhou rebels, which was not enough to shock Zhang Su to this extent.

Song Gong generously rewarded Du Ji for his achievements, but it was not enough to shock Zhang Su to this extent.

However, the Song army defeated Bingzhou in a battle and Du Ji returned to his official position, which completely shocked Zhang Su!

Because compared with Du Ji, Liu Zhang is a completely opposite model.

Why was it that Du Ji had already surrendered his commandery, but Liu Zhang was dragging his feet and the envoy only arrived in Jiankang today, and even had to spend a lot of money to see Song Gong?

It was because of Cao Cao's devastating advance in the early stage that Liu Zhang hesitated again. At the critical moment when he was about to send envoys, he wanted to wait and see again.

If Sun Ce suffered a disastrous defeat similar to the Battle of Chibi, and the north and the south faced off from now on, he would not be in a hurry to surrender.

To be honest, at that time, Cao Cao marched in with overwhelming force and defeated Sun Ce's four counties. There was indeed a tendency to defeat Sun Ce on the banks of the Yellow River.

Sun Ce lost more than 10,000 men, and the hastily assembled troops only had more than 30,000 men. Faced with Cao Cao's army of more than 50,000 men pressing down on the border, he was in danger of being destroyed.

But the problem is that there are too many elite soldiers and generals in the Song army, and there are too many extraordinary talents.

Zhuge Liang, Lu Meng, Lu Xun, Zhang Liao, Zhao Yun and other Song generals stood up and guarded the Guangzong barrier.

At this time, the defeat of Cao's army was inevitable. Even if there was no flood, Cao's army would have to withdraw without any support.

Perhaps with Cao Cao's talent and Guan Yu's bravery, the defeat would not be so tragic, and at least he could safely retreat to Henan with the main army.

But that has no meaning anymore.

When Sun Ce introduced salt to divert Sino-French territory, Jiankang raised sufficient funds, and a hundred thousand troops pushed back to the vicinity of Luoyang. The outcome was the same.

Without food and grass, Cao's army could only collapse at the first touch. Even with Hulao Pass, it could not defend Luoyang.

And a flood only accelerated the process, making Cao's army defeated particularly tragically.

It is precisely for this reason that everyone in the world says that this destiny lies in Song Dynasty.

Liu Zhang's counselor Fazheng also said to Liu Zhang: "Yunlei Fangtun, at the beginning of the Dragon War, there is destiny, there are heroes. Since the end of the Han Dynasty, the emperor has been in chaos, and wars have begun all over the world."

"Sikong Cao Gong rose up as a farmer, and everything north and south of the Yellow River was in jeopardy. The mountains and tigers were looming, and he was even more impressive than the heroes of that time."

"At that time, the heroes were separatist. Yuan Shu was in Huainan, Yuan Shao was in Hebei, Liu Biao was in Chu, and Lu Bu was marching forward. However, judging from the traces of his creation and the scale of his strategy, none of them could compare with Cao Cao."

"He marched with discipline, was brave in body, listened to advice wisely, and never refused. This is why Sigai heroes flourished and established dominance, and they expanded their territory thousands of miles in one day! They are very different from their husbands Yuan Shu, Lu Bu, Liu Biao, etc. ."

"Only Heaven has something to belong to, only destiny has something to return to, so I miscalculated in the Yellow River and was defeated by the approaching enemy. The clouds dispersed and the rain fell, and my death was sudden."

"My lord, you must first understand the fate of destiny, cherish the demise of your tyranny, and obey the will of heaven and people as soon as possible. Please attach me to Song Gong."

So Liu Zhang hurriedly sent out envoys again, and with courtesy and humble words, he asked to surrender to Sun Ce.

But the problem is, it's too late!

If Liu Zhang had decisively sent envoys when Cao Cao was not defeated, asking for surrender at that time, I am afraid that it would not be a problem to grant him the title of Marquis of Ten Thousand Households.

But now, Sun Ce's powerful enemy has been defeated, and the world is about to fall. If Liu Zhang asks for surrender again, it will be very difficult to survive. (End of chapter)